Sukkur Barrage: Chinese delegation briefs president

Zardari urges economic viability to be given due consideration.

ISLAMABAD:

A Chinese delegation headed by Three Gorges Corporation of China Senior Vice President Wang Shaofeng called on President Asif Ali Zardari here at the Aiwan-i-Sadr on Friday.

Briefing the media, spokesperson to the President Farhatullah Babar said that Shaofeng had briefed the president about the site investigation and preliminary report prepared by Three Gorges Corporation on the Sukkur Barrage for building a run of the river hydro power project of 120 MW. It may be recalled that China had offered financial and technical assistance to massively develop hydro and wind power, up-grade the existing transmission system and provide an integrated solution to the problems of power shortages and disruptions in Pakistan.

The president advised that important factors such as relocation of households and existing highways be accorded top consideration in further undertakings of the study and developing the plans for implementation of the project. He said that economical viability was also another important factor to be given due consideration.

He said that besides undertaking 120 MW power project on Sukkur Barrage, the study may also be conducted on building a number of small power stations of 20 MW to 30 MW, depending upon the capacity on various distributaries in that area.

Published in The Express Tribune, June 4^th, 2011.